We woke up nice and early (4:57am) and loaded the bikes. The weather was predicting a thunder storm and the air was thick with fog. Everyone felt a little ‘off’ the guys described it as nervous and all I kept thinking was… ‘THEY’RE NERVOUS?!’ I have never crossed a border, ridden in the rain or on a high way… if they were nervous I was screwed.
We rode no problem down 25 to Milton, where we filled up. We continued south on to the QEW. Welcome to high-way. We came up to the BUFFALO border around 7:30 and waited only a few minutes. Dad went first and answered all the hard questions. My stomach was doing flips! These people could lock me away for an ill placed stutter! Despite my wild imagination everything went off without a hitch. We were in the US of A and barreling down the highway (I90) to Albany to meet up with our fourth member… Zach. 
The weather cleared up… it looked like we had out run the storm, but it was hot on our heels and we wasted little time at pit stops. We rode through upstate New York and despite all the toll roads (one every 2km or that’s how it felt). The sun was out and I was warm under all my layers. 
We stopped again in Syracuse for gas… it was barely 11:30. We were making GREAT time. All was well until we stumbled into Amsterdam and the rain, which lasted just enough time to get us wet.
Around 1:30 we rolled in Albany… all thanks to my trusty iPhone. We got all turned around and had to back track a little to find Zach. We went for a nice lunch at Appleby’s (which is VERY different and good in the states). At that point we called it a day. Our waitress had scared us into stopping with the pending tornado watch. I pulled out the trusty iPhone and found a cheap hotel and we spent our first night in an ‘America’s Best Value Inn’ somewhere near Troy. We still hadn’t mapped out our route and this seemed like a good time to stop.
We settled in, locked up the bikes and went for a swim… after touring our temp surroundings. It was hot and I think I got a sun burn. The hotel was ‘nice’. It was recently re-done and the outward appearance highlighted the good things, which were few. I got accused of being a wayward 16-year-old trying to swim alone. Until the creepy hotel guy offered to swim with me. In the disturbing pool… it had a thick layer of sludge on top. Zach made an effort to clean it, but without reducing our rate that lasted 5 minutes. Finally after very little coercing Zach jumped in head first… ew. Richard and I watched in disgust… and the first quote of the trip was born. “Why does she have to keep being right?” The second came shortly after when Zack chatted up the convenient store girl “Room number 5, on the cot.”
We mapped out the following day before getting a good (ish) night sleep.
This was my first introduction to the world of MAN. Being the only female I was privy to a lot of odd comments and ‘poo’ talk.
Yeah, it's best to stay away from the hotels in the Albany area. If you ever come back and need to stop in Syracuse, there's a Holiday Inn there my mum stayed at during parent's weekend that's nice. If you want to back track some (down 88), there are some nice ones in the Oneonta/Cooperstown area, but that'd be best for fall time, as they fill up with tourists this time of year. If you want to stay in the Albany area, I'd suggest going to Schentady, or even as far back as Cobleskill. If you must stay in Albany area, Holiday Inn or Best Western are your best bets without spending an arm or a leg. Wish I had thought to tell you all this before hand.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see how the rest of your trip went!
Oh, and while we might get tornado warnings, NY rarely gets them. Too hilly. We had tordados once in my lifetime (I think it was the only time in my grandparent's lifetime as well), and that was 12 years ago. Just so you know.